Dreams
by Casskins
Summary: Cassandra and Jenkins both find themselves awake in the annex the middle of the night, where will they find themselves in the morning? They say dreams tell your head what only your heart knows. First chapter takes place 3 months after Cassandra's surgery, Season 4 and the last two episodes of season 3 have not occurred.
1. Dreams

Cassandra:  
I woke with a start from the dream still swirling in my head, though now I can't remember anything from it but him... I force myself to look over to the other side of the bed and sigh. It was just a dream. I glance at the pink furry clock next to me and notice the time, 2:30 am. I roll over and try to go back to sleep, but that image of… of him… here… is still burned in the back of my mind and I find myself wishing it could have been real. Well, there's no going to sleep now. I find myself thinking about running my hands through his soft silver hair.

Jenkins:  
I'm wandering around the annex again in the early morning hours and I think, how many times have I done this? There's no way to count of course, having done this for over a thousand years. Usually, I come when the nightmares of the past come creeping in, but lately there haven't been nightmares at all, only pleasant dreams that scare me all the more. She's the reason I can't sleep. I know it's wildly inappropriate and that she is much too young for me, but I can't help it. I find myself dreaming about her anyway, her fiery hair, her ocean eyes, her ivory skin... damn it Jenkins, pull yourself together. Just as I scold myself for letting my mind wander, I hear footsteps.

Who on earth is up this late? I look up from my desk to see Cassandra, in short pink shorts and a floral tank top with a robe hanging haphazardly as if it's just there for decoration. Her slippers are rabbits and as she slipped her hands up in a yawn, I notice she is not wearing any...well undergarments under that tight tank top. I hear a small gulp come from my lips and I am relieved to know she did not hear it, because she notices me with surprise a few seconds later just as I bring my eyes back to her face.

"Oh, Jenkins, I'm sorry I didn't know anyone was in here." I try to focus but my mind feels like jelly. All I can come up with is "Miss Cillian, what are you doing up at this hour?" I notice her face blush as she stumbles through her answer, "oh, um well I ...uh had a dream I couldn't shake." I'm instantly worried, "A nightmare, are you alright?" I move around my desk to stand closer to her. "Oh no! Not that, um... quite the opposite actually," she says embarrassed. I understand immediately that she is in the same position as I, though I'm quite sure was dreaming about someone else. "Ah, I see."

I move to go back to my desk, but she grabs my arm and I feel myself tense and then immediately relax from her sudden touch. I turn back to her expectantly. "Why are you up?" she questions me. I'm startled by her question and her petite hand still on my arm is not helping matters. "Oh, um I was just working on something in my lab... that I had to finish up," I lie. She raises her eyebrows at me, "We're in the annex." I realize too late that my lie was not a good one and try to fix it. "Oh, um, yes I suppose we are Miss Cillian, I was just grabbing a few books to—" I try to move away again but this time she senses my evasiveness and grabs my other arm as well. "Tell me the truth," she cuts me off. Her tone is not one to argue with. "Oh, well I... um… I suppose if you must know, I had a similar type of ... dream… if you will." It was all I could do to get the words out of my mouth and now that they were out, I looked shamefully at the floor.

I felt one of her arms leave mine and thought that maybe I would get away from this uncomfortable conversation after all, but my thought was quickly hushed by her hand reaching up to my chin to force me to look at her. I saw something in her eyes then but couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Cassandra:  
I could tell he was here for the same reason I was, but I highly doubt it was me he was dreaming about. After he confirmed my thought, he looked down at his feet, clad in slippers that were somehow still sexy. I reigned that thought in and moved my hand to his chin to force him to look at me. I saw something flash in his eyes and took a leap of faith. I said, "My dream was about you, you know." I instantly regretted it when I saw the surprise on his face but then something else- relief maybe? Then he started smiling.

Jenkins:  
"My dream was about you, you know," she said and at first, I didn't understand. When the implications of what she had said finally dawned on me, I was surprised and then I realized how brave it was of her to admit that to me after all that has happened, not knowing what my response would be. I had turned her down a few weeks ago, though now it was one of my deepest regrets. I felt admiration for the beautiful woman in front of me and I couldn't help but smile. I moved my hands to her hips and felt her draw in a breath. If she could be brave, so could I. "Well, I suppose now that it is okay to admit that mine was about you, Cassandra." Her first name rolled off my tongue as if it were the only word I was meant to speak for the rest of my days. I saw the shock on her face and then she smiled the widest smile I think I've ever seen. I leaned even closer to her. "May I kiss you Cassandra?" I felt my lips asking in spite of my brain and now that I'd said her name I couldn't stop. She moved her hands from her side (where they had been hanging since I touched her hips) to my hair and I felt myself gasp but this time I didn't try to hide it.

Cassandra:  
His words hit me like a pile of bricks. He wants me, I thought. Why, I would never know, but he does, he wants me. I smiled like I had never smiled before and felt myself visibly relax as he leaned in even closer. "May I kiss you, Cassandra?" I could feel his breath on my lips and it sent shivers up and down my spine. I put my hands in his thick silver hair and heard him gasp. It was even softer than I had imagined. I leaned up to his ear and whispered, "I thought you'd never ask." In an instant, he had his hands on my cheeks and his mouth was on mine. I slowly parted my lips to allow him full access and his tongue explored eagerly. I moved my body even closer to his and when my chest touched his, he sucked in a breath. I smiled into the kiss a little, now knowing the effect I had on him. As the kiss deepened even more, I let my hands slide from his luscious hair to his broad shoulders and down his chest.

Jenkins:  
"I thought you'd never ask," she whispered into my ear and that was all it took. I was kissing her in an instant. Her warm lips were even more inviting that I had imagined. I ran my tongue across her bottom lip begging for entrance and she obliged. As our tongues danced, I felt myself relax in her arms. This felt so right. Why had I been so oblivious? She stepped forward into the kiss and I sucked in a breath as her chest collided with mine. I felt the beautiful woman smile against my lips and I lost it. My hand moved from her cheeks to her shoulders, down the curves of her body and rested on the small of her back just above her butt. Her small hands moved out of my hair and down my chest and rested there, just above the waistband of my pajama bottoms. I felt a warm feeling deep in my belly and was immediately aroused and it… showed. I pulled away from her just enough to say, "Cassandra…" in a warning tone, knowing where this was quickly going to go.

Cassandra:  
I felt his bulge on my stomach as he warned me "Cassandra…" I could tell he was quickly losing self-control, as was I. I leaned up to his ear and began nibbling on it. He responded audibly with a small gasp. I leaned in and whispered, "Let's see if we can't make those dreams we had come to life, shall we?" That turned out to be all the permission he required. His hands slid from my back to my butt and he gave it a little squeeze as he began kissing me again. I giggled.

Jenkins:  
Her sultry voice in my ear was all it took. I began to kiss her again and moved my hands down to her ass and gave it a small squeeze. Her giggle in response was intoxicating. In an instant, I swept up the small giggling woman and carried her to my room.


	2. Mornings

Jenkins:  
I woke up to the intoxicating smell of Gardenia perfume. I smiled, knowing whose it was. I looked down at the small woman in my arms. I was taken aback at just how beautiful she was in her state of sleep. Her red hair was a mess and her lips were parted slightly. My arms were crossed protectively around her small waist and her hands rested on them. It took me a minute to recall the events of last night and reason as to why we were stark naked, but I smiled as the events of the night came flooding back.

Cassandra:  
I woke up in a room that was not my own without a stitch of clothing on. As I tried to remember what happened and why I was here, I noticed the long arms wrapped around my waist and immediately relaxed. Jenkins. I snuggled up tighter to him and he sighed in my ear. "Good morning," I whispered, feeling his arms hold me even tighter. "Good morning my dear," his sweet, deep voice said in return. I glanced at his clock and sighed. It read 7:00. The others would be in the annex by 8, so we had to get up. I started to slip out of his grasp and felt him tighten his arms once more. "And just where do you think you're going?" His voice was low and sultry, and it took all I had to not jump him. I turned in his arms to face him. "It's 7:00, don't we need to go get ready?" He turned, and his eyes widened realizing the time.

Jenkins:  
7:00? There is no way that it is actually 7:00, I've never slept in like this before. I turned to look at the clock and to my surprise, it read 7:02. I'm usually in the annex by 7:30, dressed and having made tea. The others will immediately question me if I am not there and they do not need to find out about this new development just yet. "Oh dear, it seems that it is," I tried to sound calm. I let her go and as she started grabbing her clothes from the floor, I watched her. God, that body. The seductive curve of her hips, her slim waist and long red hair. I sucked in a breath and tried to keep myself together.

Cassandra:  
I could feel him watching me, but I didn't mind. If I'm honest, I enjoyed being watched that way by him. I smiled up at him. I put my pajamas from last night on and heard him pull a suit from his closet. As he was picking out his bow tie and pocket square in the mirror, I went behind him and wrapped my arms around his naked waist. I felt him relax and said, "Let's keep this between us for now so as not to startle the others just yet, agreed?" He nodded his head in the mirror and turned around to face me. He leaned down and kissed me gingerly, a long, proper kiss that sent shivers to my soul. I walked out of his room and down the hall to my own suite carefully and quietly.

Eve:  
It was 7:35 and Jenkins was nowhere to be found. I started down the hall to his room when I heard the door open. Shit, I thought. He hates people coming down here and he was about to catch me. I hid behind a corner and watched as someone walked through the door. I was surprised to see that it wasn't Jenkins. It was Cassandra, hair a mess, wearing pajamas. She turned and looked around to make sure no one saw her and hustled away. Thankfully, I wasn't caught.

Why was Cassandra in Jenkins' room this early in the morning? Realization dawned on me just as Jenkins stepped out of his doorway and began to walk in my direction. I hustled down the hallway so as not to be seen and made it to the kitchen unnoticed. Jenkins walked in a minute behind me and seemed not to notice my startled face. "Good morning Colonel," he said with a smile. This is my chance. "Wow Jenkins, why so happy this morning?" He was startled and struggled as he lied through his teeth. "I… I don't know what you mean Colonel." I let it slide, I knew I was not getting answers from him, but the young redhead would be much easier to get to. "Oh, never mind then."

Cassandra:  
I got ready in a hurry but couldn't take my mind off of what happened last night. I heard a knock at the door that startled me out of my thoughts. I went to it and to my surprise it was Colonel Baird. "Eve, what's wrong?" I knew that face. She came in without a word and I shut the door behind her. I turned to her. "I saw you walk out of Jenkins' room this morning" was all she had to say. "I don't know what you're—" I started. Then I noticed she was smiling. She wasn't mad, she was happy, and I was a terrible liar. "Okay fine, I kind of slept there," I finally confessed. Eve squealed. "I'm so happy for you! I need details quick!" We giggled as I told her some of the milder details of the night, like how it all started and waking up in his arms. "Swear you won't say a word!" I asked her. "I swear, I swear! I'm just so happy for you, I could sense something was off with you two the past few weeks," Eve responded. "The past few weeks? We hadn't even kissed until last night," Cassandra admitted. Eve's brow furrowed, "Really? The team caught you sneaking glances at each other but couldn't put it together." Cassandra smiled at the thought of Jenkins sneaking glances at her. She had had no idea.

Jenkins:

Colonel Baird's comment from moments before had been tickling at my mind as I made tea. "Wow Jenkins, why so happy this morning?" she had said. I had been very careful not to let her see what had just happened, but she has suspected something anyway. As much as I could try, I might not be able to hide the feelings that had surfaced from my and Cassandra's new… relationship? No, one night does not imply that, does it? It took a moment to realize that I did not know the social norms of "dating" in this day and age. I haven't dated anyone since, well… wow, had it been that long? I did the math again just to be sure. I suppose I'll keep that number to myself. I began to search the iPad Mr. Jones had given me for the site he told me had young euphemisms on it, Urban Dictionary. I feel like relationship is too a big a term, but it was much more than a "one-night stand" as the site had so crudely told me it was. I mean, seriously? Do young people actually use such a term? I need to just ask Cassandra what this means for us and what we should call it.

As I left the kitchen and went into the annex, the four Librarians and their Guardian were hovered over the Clippings Book. I went to my desk, trying not to be distracted by the short skirt Cassandra was wearing. "Where to this time?" I called over my shoulder to the group and Flynn immediately responded, "Fire up the back-door Jenkins, we're going to Dallas!" I sat the tea down at my desk and moved to the gyroscope to set it.

As I glanced back at them, Cassandra was grinning at me, which was not anything unusual from her normal expression. Had that grin meant the same thing before as I suspect it does now? I forced myself to not think of it right now or it might give us away. The others must have thought little of it because they had normal expressions on their faces, even the Colonel. Cassandra and I must have kept our emotions hidden better than I thought after all. The back-door reared to life as I stepped out of the way.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Stone stepped through first, followed by Flynn and Eve, leaving Cassandra. I glanced at her and then back at the door expectantly and she ran up to me and gave me a quick kiss before running through the door after the others. I smiled in spite of myself. Maybe we could make this work after all.

Cassandra:

I appeared on the other side of the door a few strides behind the others but caught up quickly. Eve glanced back and gave me a knowing look, but the others never even checked up. I smiled thinking about the surprised look from the man on the other side of the door as I kissed him. I tried to fight my desire to do so, but I couldn't help it. I've felt this way for months now and if he is going to try to talk himself out of this because of our age difference, I am going to make it damn near impossible for him to.


	3. Cartwheels

Jenkins:

The back-door whizzed to life behind me and I turned around to watch as the Librarians began popping through the door one by one- Flynn, Jacob, Ezekiel… Where was Cassandra? And Colonel Baird? No! Not now! It's too soon! Just as I was about to ask where they were, the two girls popped through the door, leaning on each other. I felt a sigh of relief but suppressed it. Then I noticed Cassandra was holding her arm in pain. "Cass- Miss Cillian? Are you alright?" I tried to regain composure and keep my voice steady. This needed to sound like it would for any of the others. She looked up at me with tears in her big blue eyes and it was all I could do not to run to her side. "I'm fine," she said, "But I think I broke my arm." I felt my face crumple a little at her words and tried to put the "worried but not too worried" expression back on my face. "Let's get you to the infirmary," Colonel Baird's voice interrupted my thoughts, "Jenkins, care to accompany us?" I almost jumped from my desk, "Of course, Allow me to stop by the lab to see if I can find any elixirs to help with the pain."

Cassandra:

As Eve took me to the emergency room, I thought about the fear I had just seen on Jenkins' face. I never intended for him to be worried about me. If only I hadn't tried one of Jake's cartwheel moves. I hadn't even been hurt on the mission, I had been hurt doing something as stupid as a cartwheel on the way back. Jenkins was going to be very upset with me when he found out I could have prevented being hurt and worrying him. I sat down on the cot and waited for Jenkins while Eve prodded at my hurt arm. It was starting to purple up nicely when Jenkins walked in, clearly rushing to get here.

Eve:

"What did you find?" I asked Jenkins as he stepped into the infirmary. "I have a vial of Methuselah's healing potion if it is a really bad break and a bottle of a milder more common version if it isn't as bad as it seems," he responded quickly. I held my hands out to take them, but he wasn't moving to give them to me. "I'm sorry Colonel, but I would much prefer to handle the potions myself, knowing the effects and how to use them." I had used both potions before but wasn't going to say that, I understood that they needed to be alone. I just said, "Okay, I'll leave you to it then," and left the room.

Jenkins:

As soon as the door shut behind the Colonel, I took Cassandra's face in my hands. "Cassandra, my dear, are you alright?" She looked guilty as tears swam in her eyes. "I'm okay, I promise." "How did this happen? Who did this to you?" I said, my voice becoming angrier by the minute. She looked down at the floor as she mumbled, "It didn't happen when we were on the mission." I was puzzled for a moment and said, "What do you mean? When did it happen then?" She swallowed hard and looked back at me, "I was trying to do a cartwheel on the way back to the door, like Jake had shown me, and… and I fell." Her voice was small and embarrassed. I was immediately relieved that it was nothing more than an accident and I couldn't help but smile as I imagined her trying and failing to do a cartwheel. I began to laugh.

Cassandra:

I looked up at him surprised. "Why are you laughing? It's not funny!" He stopped laughing, but the smile remained, "I'm relieved, Cassandra. I thought someone had hurt you. I'm glad to know it was nothing more than an accident, now let me see your arm." I held my arm up to him as he felt around for a break. Jenkins looked up at me, "Okay, my dear, I have to set this break and it's going to hurt quite a lot, are you ready?" I nodded and closed my eyes, bracing myself for the worst. He quickly snapped it back into place. I screamed and began to cry. He rubbed my back and handed me the milder healing potion and told me to take a small sip.

I perked up immediately and said, "Why didn't I take this first?" It was a good question, I thought, though I knew he had an answer. I'm sure if he could have prevented me pain, he would have done it. I'm just curious. "It works best when repairing something that is ready to be repaired. Setting it took the healing process back several days." I nodded and laid my head against his chest as he rubbed my back. "So, you're not mad at me?" I choked out finally. His hands stopped rubbing and he moved to look at me, "What?" he asked simply. "I thought you would be upset with me for doing something so childish and hurting myself," I responded. He looked hurt. "Oh, Cassandra, no. I could never be upset with you for something like this, I'm upset that you're hurt but not at you at all."

Jenkins:

How could she believe that I could be upset with her? For this? I cupped her face in my hands and said, "I'm just glad you're alright now." She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "May I kiss you Jenkins?" I smiled at her using my words and decided I would borrow some of hers as well, "I thought you'd never ask." Her lips tasted salty from the tears and I wiped more tears away from her cheeks as we kissed.


	4. Nightmares

Cassandra:

I woke with a start, having had that same nightmare from a few weeks ago…

It was before the tumor had been removed and I was in the annex. Everyone was there, but nobody could hear or see me screaming. I screamed from the pain and fell to the floor with my hands on my head in agony, but they were oblivious. I was writhing on the floor in pain with the people I loved most around me, but I had never felt so alone. I always wake up from the dream at the exact moment they notice me. I can see the shock and hurt on their faces as they come running to me and then black…

I've never told the others about this particular dream because I feel like they would think it's me blaming them for not picking up the signals that something was wrong, but really, it's about me blaming myself for not telling the people I have grown so close to about what was really going on. I just couldn't disappoint them like that.

I turned to check the time- 4:21. I knew that I wasn't going back to sleep after this, so I got up and put my slippers on. I walked silently to Jenkins' room and tapped the door softly 3 times. I heard movement and waited for him to come. He opened the door with a look of anger at being awakened that quickly evaporated when he realized it was me and not one of the others. He noticed the tears streaming down my face and pulled me to his chest instantly, being careful of my broken arm, and shutting the door with his foot. I cried into him in the middle of his bedroom for a long time.

After my little arm incident, a week or so ago, we decided that I should stay in my room and get some rest there since the others would no doubt come to check on me from time to time. We were afraid they might come to look for me in my room and then find me here, in his. He would come and stay with me until I fell asleep and then he would silently go back to his room and check on me again in the morning. The others still didn't know about us, well, except for Eve. I had told Jenkins that she caught us that first night a while ago, but he seemed to have suspected she knew.

"What's wrong, my dear?" I heard him ask me in a concerned voice. "Your arm? —" he tried to figure it out. "No, no, my arm is fine, I just had a nightmare," I said in a small voice. He paused before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head no into his chest and he seemed to understand. "It's just the same one over and over again and I don't know how to make it go away," I finally said. He reached his hands down to cup my face, "I have nightmares too, you know?" I looked up at him in shock, "Really? You? You were a knight of the Round Table, you're the bravest man I know—" He cut me off, "Ah, and what do you think those nightmares are about?" he paused and let it sink in. Oh, of course those things would give you nightmares. I hadn't even thought about that. "Cassandra, the things I have seen would terrify anyone, even a brave knight of the Round Table," he smiled as he used my words.

Jenkins:

The small crying woman in my arms made it very difficult for me to speak. I just wanted to hold her and let her cry, but I knew I had to ask, "What's wrong my dear?" Then I remembered, "Your arm? –" She cut me off, "No, no, my arm is fine, I just had a nightmare." Ah, I am no stranger to those. I had been having one just a few moments ago, though it was a new one… I paused for a moment, knowing what she would say, but feeling myself ask anyway, "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head, as I had suspected. I held her for a while longer until she spoke again, "It's just the same one over and over again and I don't know how to make it go away." I know this feeling all too well, this one must be one of the bad ones. I reached my hands down and cupped her cheeks. I have never told anyone of my nightmares, but I suspect it might help her and I was willing to do anything I could to make her feel better.

"I have nightmares too, you know?" She looked up at me surprised, "Really? You? You were a knight of the Round Table, you're the bravest man I know—" I cut her off, "Ah, and what do you think those nightmares are about?" I paused, and she seemed to understand. "Cassandra, the things I have seen would terrify anyone, even a brave knight of the Round Table," I smiled at her genuine words.

"So how do you shake them?" she asked. My brow furrowed, honestly, some of them haven't gone away, especially this new one. "If I'm honest Cassandra, I don't. I deal with them and what they mean, that is the only way to get past them." She began to cry again, and I just held her, wishing I had a different answer for her. "Can you help me try to figure out what it means?" she asked in a small voice. "Of course, my dear, but are you sure you want me to know—" She nodded and began telling me about her dream. I listened intently and winced at some of her words. I can see why she was so upset.

"Cassandra—" I began as she finished her story and she began to ramble, I think because she was afraid of what I was going to say. "I know it's not true and that I'm okay and that you saved me and that I have nothing to be afraid of, but I don't know why I keep feeling this way and—" her voice broke at the end and she couldn't continue. I sighed a little as I knew what I was going to have to tell her. "Cassandra, though most of my nightmares are about my days as a knight and the many things I have seen in my years at the Library, I have developed a rather new nightmare myself." She looked up at me expectantly. "Here lately, my nightmares have been centered around what could have happened to you if I had not found that doctor's card or the surgery had not gone well," I said in a small voice. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" she said. "I'm afraid so, yes. And in the end of every one of them, I'm sitting at your desk in the annex sobbing, wondering why I had not seen it, why I had not accepted your request for a date, why I had not acted upon my feelings for you when you first came to the Library …" I felt tears begin to run down my face as I confessed this to her. She brought her small hands up to my cheeks and wiped them away quickly.

Cassandra:

"Cassandra, though most of my nightmares are about my days as a knight and the many things I have seen in my years at the Library, I have developed a rather new nightmare myself." I looked up at him waiting for him to continue. "Here lately, my nightmares have been centered around what could have happened to you if I had not found that doctor's card or the surgery had not gone well," he said in a voice that sounded very little like his normal one. My eyes widened, surprised by his confession.

"Really?" I choked out. I couldn't believe that this man had been so frightened by the thought of losing me, just me. "I'm afraid so, yes. And in the end of every one of them, I'm sitting at your desk in the annex sobbing, wondering why I had not seen it, why I had not accepted your request for a date, why I had not acted upon my feelings for you when you first came to the Library…" I saw the tears begin to run down his face and brought my hands up to my cheeks and wiped them away. "Oh Jenkins…" I felt myself get teary eyed and he noticed, "Oh dear, I didn't mean to upset you again, I was trying to comfort you and show you that everyone has dreams that they know are untrue yet they're still scary to—" I cut him off again, "I'm not upset anymore Jenkins, I just can't believe that you care so much… about me. No one has ever—" My sentence was interrupted by his lips crashing against mine and I knew there wasn't anything left to say. He got the message… and so did I.

Jenkins:

I woke with Cassandra in my arms, however, this time we were both fully clothed. As I remembered some of the things we had told each other, I smiled. I have never told anyone about my nightmares before. It never seemed appropriate and I never trusted anyone enough to go there, but it had come so easy to me last night, it was so easy to talk to her. I looked down at the sleeping woman and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then snuggled into her deeper. She smiled in her sleep.


	5. Pizza

Cassandra:

I finally got that wretched cast off of my arm and everyone was back to normal, well, except for me and Jenkins of course. Eve was still the only one that knew anything, and she didn't even know the half of it. I looked up from my desk over to him and saw him hard at work on some contraption. I stared at him for a few minutes, not really caring if the others noticed or not. He was lost in thought when he finally looked up and noticed me staring at him. He looked around the room and saw that everyone was deep into their work as well- Jacob was pouring over some ancient text, Ezekiel was texting, and Flynn and Eve were trying to figure out how to set their desk to Eve's preferences, again. Then he raised an eyebrow at me. I smirked at him and said, "I'm going to go get a snack, would anybody like anything?" I saw him tense as he heard me say the word "snack", which was exactly what I was going for. There were several mumbled no's and head shaking from around the room and as I got up to leave, I winked at Jenkins.

Jenkins:

As Cassandra left the room, I knew I was supposed to follow her, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about that without raising suspicion. As I was trying to come up with a good excuse, I remembered that I had not filed several books a while ago and grabbed them from my desk and headed off to the stairs to file them. The group seemed to not think anything of it and let me go without a word. I put the books down on a table upstairs, not worried about filing them at all and went down the back way away from the annex to the kitchen. I found her there, laying on the table seductively.

I gasped as I entered the room and found myself walking to her anyway. She pulled me to her by the lapels of my jacket and I kissed her fiercely. "Aren't you the least bit worried we'll be caught?" I asked between kisses. "Nope," she responded, popping the P at the end. She began running her hands through my hair and I lost what little bit of self-control I had left. I began to kiss down her neck, then jaw, then collarbone as she arched her back from pleasure, gripping my hair even tighter. I moaned and started sucking and nibbling at her neck. We did this for several minutes- her, gripping my hair and moaning and me, kissing her neck and collarbone.

Then, all of a sudden, we heard Ezekiel from down the hall, "Cass, I think I will take you up on that offer of yours—" I immediately panicked, and she shoved me into the pantry as she jumped down from the table and tried to pull herself together. As I watched her through the crack in the doors, my eyes widened in horror at the purple marks on her neck. Ezekiel sure wouldn't miss them if I could see them from here. Then, as she inspected herself, she noticed too. She immediately pulled her long red hair around to cover them as Ezekiel walked in. "Let's make some pizza—" he started as he reached for the pantry door.

"I'll get it, you start the oven," she responded calmly as she moved in front of him. He didn't seem to think it odd because he obeyed without question and she opened the door on the left side where Ezekiel would not see me. I handed her the items and she winked at me. "We'll finish this later," she said, so quietly that I wasn't even sure I heard it. She closed the door and I waited patiently until they put the pizza in. "It'll be fifteen minutes or so, we can come back for it then," she said, and they left the room. That was my cue to make myself scarce and I went back up the back way to file the books I had neglected minutes before. I fixed my hair back and straightened my suit. When I was satisfied that I looked as though nothing happened, I went back to the annex the same way I had left without saying a word.

The others didn't even glance up as I came back down the stairs. Cassandra was smiling at me a little but doing her best to hide it. I gave her a quick smirk in response and then plastered my default "detached and uninterested" look back on my face.

Cassandra:

I can't believe I actually hid him in a pantry, I thought to myself as he walked down the stairs. He had done a good job putting himself back together, I could tell his hair was a little disheveled in the back, but only because I knew to look for it. Other than that, we both looked normal. Well, except for the purple spots on my neck. Who knew the man could be so… frisky? I sure was pleasantly surprised. As I glanced down to make sure my neck was covered, I knew I would be wearing a turtleneck top under my sweater tomorrow. He smirked slightly when he caught me smiling at him and then it was gone, and he looked like the grumpy, old Jenkins everyone else saw. But I knew the truth now and it made me giddy.

That night, I waited until I thought everyone would be asleep as we had agreed upon and then snuck to his room with my clothes for the next day in my hands. We had gotten into the habit of doing this and now, my toothbrush and makeup had made their way to his bathroom, though I didn't bring them and neither did he. He thinks the Library is giving us signs that it's happy for us. I'm okay with that because at least it meant that I didn't have to sneak around in my pajamas every morning. I didn't even bother knocking anymore and just slipped quietly inside the doorway and shut it behind me. I felt his long arms slip around my waist in the dark.

Jenkins:

"My god, woman, you tease a man so and then hide him in a pantry. What a naughty, naughty thing to do," I whispered into her ear from behind her, trying to make my voice even deeper and even more sultry. I heard her drop the clothes in her hands to the floor and she reached her arms back to play with my hair, "Well I guess you're just going to have to teach me a lesson." My eyes widened in surprise at her answer, but I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. In an instant, I picked up the squealing woman and threw her onto the bed.


	6. Auckland

Jenkins:

Cassandra and I have been "seeing each other", as she called it, for a little over two months now. Eve was still the only one who knew anything about it. I decided tonight to take Cassandra on a date, in public, to test how it felt, away from the others, so there wasn't any pressure. They had all already gone to their rooms as it was 12:00 midnight here. Where we were going, it was about dinner time though. I had told Cassandra that we were going to do something I had planned here, but that we needed to dress up anyway. She didn't ask too many questions and bought my fib. I was dressed in an even nicer suit than usual of all black, per Cassandra's request. I held a large bouquet of sunflowers in my hand. I was prepared and ready to take this step with her, but I still found myself quite nervous about tonight though.

I heard quiet footsteps from behind me as I set the back-door. I turned to see Cassandra standing there, in a very short, very tight black dress, strappy red heels in hand so as not to startle the others. Her long red hair was in loose curls around her face and she had on more makeup than usual. She didn't need it of course, but my, did it look good on her. Her lips were a bright shade of cherry red, and I smiled as I noticed that they matched her shoes. I couldn't help but admire her. She was beautiful. "Wow," was all I could muster. She smiled brightly and walked towards me. "Are those for me?" she asked of the flowers in my hand. I nodded and handed them to her. "They're beautiful Jenkins, where did you find them?" I paused. "The sunflower fields of Tuscany," I answered truthfully after a moment and saw her smile brighten even more.

"We best be on our way, we don't want to be late for our reservation," I smiled at her surprise. "Reservation? It's midnight! What could we possibly have a reservation for? I thought we were going to do something here—" I cut her off, "You didn't really think that I would let you get all dressed up with nowhere to go did you? Looking like that?" I let my eyes wander as I looked her up and down. She smiled in realization that she'd been tricked and said, "At least let me put these in a vase before we go, I don't want to ruin them." I nodded to her and continued to set the door and calibrate the button that would reopen it for us later as she left, flowers in hand, to find a vase.

She returned a moment later and I took her arm. "Where are we going?" she asked. "Guess," I replied. I knew she would do the math and get pretty close, even with very little information. "Seeing as we're dressed so nice, I'm assuming dinner reservations?" she raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded. She let go of my arm and waved her hands in front of her, calling up her maps and formulas. I smiled as I watched her swipe away at things only she could see. "So that would mean we're going anywhere between Sydney, Australia and Honolulu, Hawaii depending on what time you consider dinner," she said after only a few seconds. I nodded. "As usual, you're correct my dear," I said. I took her arm again and stepped through the door. We emerged in Auckland, New Zealand just outside the Clooney, where I had made a reservation. Delighted at the fact that we were out in public together, I held her as close as I could as I called up our reservation and we were quickly seated at a table near the back with a nice view of the restaurant.

Cassandra:

I couldn't believe that we were actually out, on a date, in public! I knew how self-conscious Jenkins was about being out at all, much less being out obviously on a date with a woman who looked half his age. I saw some of the looks people gave us. And they think he's only 60, ha, if only they knew! It took a lot for him to do this and I scooted closer to him to whisper, "Thank you" in his ear and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Anything for you, my dear," he responded, and he immediately relaxed, knowing that I wasn't uncomfortable.

We had the best time, laughing, eating and just genuinely enjoying this new feeling and each other's company. I've been on several first dates, not many, but I can easily say this was the best. There was no awkwardness, no lag in conversation, no uncomfortable silence. It was perfect. After we finished dessert, we wandered the streets of Auckland until around 12:00, meaning it was 5 am back home. "Are you ready, my dear?" he asked me. "Honestly, no. I don't want it to end," I said and leaned my head on his shoulder. He turned his head to kiss my hair and said, "Alright." I looked up at him, "What?" "I don't want it to end either, we can stay…" In an instant, my mouth collided with his and we were kissing in the middle of the streets of Auckland at midnight.

We kissed for what felt like an eternity and then went to a hotel around the corner Jenkins said he knew of and bought a room. "What about the others?" I asked him as we went to the room. "They were bound to find out eventually, I'm okay to tell them if you are." I was honestly surprised at his calmness about the situation. We walked through the door and he shut it behind us. "Really?" I choked out. He nodded. "I don't want to make them uncomfortable, but I don't want to hide this anymore… I don't want to hide us anymore." He paused and brought his hands to my cheeks as we sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm the happiest I have been in quite a long time, Cassandra, and I want people to know that I'm happy because of you." His words touched me more than any I had ever heard. Nobody had ever said anything like that to me. I began to feel tears streaming down my face.

Jenkins:

I saw the tears begin to fall from those big beautiful blue eyes and swiped them away with my thumbs. I knew they were happy tears by the way her eyes smiled, but I couldn't help from feeling guilt that I had been the cause of them. "I want them to know how happy you make me too," she smiled as she looked up at me. I leaned down to kiss her, a slow proper kiss that turned into a long, hungry one. "Should we warn Colonel Baird that we won't be back for a while?" I asked her between kisses. "I'll text her and tell her where we are and not to worry," she responded. I smiled as she quickly sent the message and leaned back against the bed.


	7. News

Cassandra:

We checked out of the hotel and found a good spot to open the back-door around 7:00 am, 12:00 noon Portland time. If they hadn't suspected before, they certainly would now. Before he opened the door, he turned to me and said, "And you're sure?" Ever a respectful knight. I nodded and kissed his cheek. "Yes." "Because if you're not ready, you can go through now and I can come back later, and we can come up with a story or something to corroborate—" I cut him off, "I'm ready, I promise." I grasped his hand and gave it a little squeeze. He nodded slightly and opened the door. We stepped through it, still holding hands. We stumbled into the Annex to see everyone was already there. "There you guys are! Where have you been all mornin'? And why are you dressed like that—" Jake started but then noticed our hands. His face grew confused and so did Flynn and Ezekiel's. Eve was smiling as she saw our intertwined hands. "Will somebody explain before I draw my own conclusions?" Ezekiel said simply. "We… we were in New Zealand," I said carefully, "on a date."

The confusion quickly transformed into shock. Flynn did the math in his head. "But it's 7 am in New Zealand, what kind of date could you have been on at 7 am? Unless—" said Flynn, realization hitting him quickly. "Unless what?" Ezekiel chimed in. "Unless we left last night and stayed there," Jenkins said simply. Mouths dropped across the room as the usually very reserved knight implied something so explicit. "We've been seeing each other for a few months now," I filled in. "We didn't want to startle you, so we've been keeping it a secret. Last night, we decided that it was time you knew." I was surprised when he pulled my hand to his mouth and gave it a small kiss. PDA did not seem like his style, but maybe I was wrong about that.

Jenkins:

I could tell that the others were shocked by the news, but none of them looked angry, only surprised, which was reassuring. The Colonel actually looked happy that we had finally told the others. To make sure they knew we were serious, I pulled her small hand to my lips and gave it a quick kiss. I heard a chorus of small gasps from around the room. Mr. Stone still looked very surprised, but Mr. Carsen and Jones were now grinning. "Why didn't I see it before?" Mr. Jones questioned aloud, "All the signs were there!" I furrowed my brow. They were? Seeing my expression, he explained, "The two of you giving each other small glances, Cassandra always being the last one to go through the back-door, you two always managing to sneak out of the room around the same time, it all makes sense… Wait- that day in the kitchen, were you—" His question was confirmed by Cassandra's mad blushing and me suddenly clearing my throat.

"No way! I knew something was up!" Jones was laughing now, clearly amused by the fact that he had missed it. I'm relieved that he didn't mention seeing any marks of purple on Cassandra's neck that day. My, would that have made this all the more awkward. Mr. Carsen noticed the Colonel's happy and unsurprised expression and put two and two together, "Eve! You knew?" "What? No, of course not! I'm just as surprised as you are," she lied. He crossed his arms and said, "Nice try." She smiled, "Worth a shot."

Mr. Stone had not said much at all and I could tell he was still trying to process. "Now wait just a minute, you two have been sneaking around here for a few… months?" he asked finally. He was upset, and it showed. "Yes, but—" Cassandra began. "You know I don't like lyin' Cassie," he cut her off. He saw the hurt look on her face as she looked at the ground and realized what he'd said, quickly trying to back track. "But I guess you had a good reason, a new relationship isn't somethin' to go around talkin' about too quickly, lest you mess up a good thing." He smiled at her and I could feel her relax.

Just then, the Clippings Book whirred to life and opened up a new page. Cassandra slipped her hand from mine and ran over to it along with the others, the commotion of the moment before already forgotten. I smiled, that had gone better than I expected. They read and talked through the new pages and once they had a plan, I "fired up the back-door" as Mr. Carsen so colorfully calls it and Cassandra excused herself to go change out her fancy dress. She came back a few moments later, looking casual again except for the bit of dark makeup and tint of red lipstick that remained. The door whirred to life and they began to go through one by one until only Cassandra was left. She hurried to me and kissed me on the cheek, "That went well, don't you think?" I nodded my head in agreement and said, "I believe it did my dear," and sent her on her way. I shut off the door and headed down the hallway to change as well. It's been quite a long time since I woke up in the clothes from the night before.


	8. Diplomas

Cassandra:

I walk in angry silence down the hall to my bedroom and slam the door behind me. It's 12:30 am but I don't care who hears me. I'm so upset, I can't see straight. I can't believe he would ask me something like that! And in bed of all places! I mean, seriously?! He knows how bad school was for me and how I desperately wish I would have graduated so I could have gone to college, but it's too late now. Nobody will accept me with only a GED and that's assuming I can even get one of those. Why would he even bring that up when he knows how I feel? I lock the door behind me, so he won't try to come in and apologize and perch myself on the edge of the bed, feeling the tears streaming down my face. I don't even have a high school diploma, why would he tease me with the talk of going to college?

I hear the door handle rattle as he pulled at the locked door and then a small knock, "Cassandra, please let me in. I never meant to upset you." His voice is steady and quiet, but I could hear the hurt in it. "Well you did, so please go away," I spit back through the closed door, tears evident in my voice. He was quiet for a few minutes while he waited for me to cave and open the door. When he realized that I wasn't changing my mind, I heard his careful footsteps walk back down the hall to his room. I wasn't so much mad at him as I was embarrassed by the fact that I didn't even graduate high school. I mean, isn't that the standard? Even average people, hell, BELOW average people graduate high school! I had a Mensa-level IQ and I couldn't even graduate high school. I cried for what felt like hours, until I finally managed to fall asleep.

Jenkins:

She stormed out of the room before I even got to tell her the good news. I hadn't realized she would be this upset just by the talk of college, though now I understand that I hit a sore spot. I made the mistake of asking her where she would want to go to college if she could go. My plan was to tell her that she would have the opportunity to do that and then explain the news- I found a way to apply for a special online high school and I applied her for the very selective program. It is essentially the best online diploma one can get and looks as good or better than a traditional high school diploma. I hadn't told her about it before because they only accept special circumstances, but Colonel Baird helped me with that. NATO credentials and referring to Cassandra as an "important military asset" were just the cherry on top. She was accepted. I wanted her to have that diploma. She wanted it so badly it hurt her, and she deserved it. It wasn't her fault that she got sick, and it certainly wasn't her fault that high school was hell for her. I wanted to help her live out her dream, but evidently, I made a mistake in going about it.

I had the letter of acceptance on my desk. I was planning on showing it to her after she told me where it is she would have wanted to go. Now, I was standing outside her locked door waiting on her to forgive me, like she usually does when I do something stupid, but there was no movement on the other side of the door, only soft crying. Realizing that this was even worse than I thought, I decided to give her some time and went back to my room. I walked to my desk and read the letter again. Maybe I made a mistake in doing this without telling her. Should I have asked her first? Should I just not give it to her and forget about the whole thing? I was growing more confused by the minute. Maybe I should just let her come to me when she's ready to talk about it. Her reaction was severe, meaning there must be something about the situation that I am averse to. I put the letter back on the desk and crawled into bed, but I already knew I wasn't going to get much sleep.

Cassandra:

I woke up on the edge of my bed in fetal position with a big tear-stained wet spot on my comforter. I must not have been here for very long because when I looked at the clock, it was only 4:53. I replayed the events of the night in my head and felt guilty for the way I had spoken to Jenkins. I should probably go apologize. I got up and walked down the hallway to his room and didn't even bother with a knock. I walked in, surprised to see his light on and he glanced up from his book to look at me. I walked over to him and sat next to him on his side of the bed. He put the book on the bedside and pulled me to him, wrapping his long arms around me and bringing me to his chest. "I'm sorry," I said in a small voice, looking up at him with tears in my eyes. "Oh, my dear, no, I should be the one apologizing to you. My words didn't land as I intended for them to." I furrowed my eyebrows, intended? I thought he was just curious and asked the wrong question.

Seeing my expression, he held up a finger and released me to go to his desk. He picked up a small envelope off of his desk and walked back to me. He positioned himself back the way we were and handed me the envelope. "Before you open it, please know that I had only the best intentions and you absolutely do not have to do it if you don't want to." He nodded at me to open the envelope. Inside was a letter of acceptance to the most prestigious online high school in the country. I put my hand up to my mouth as I read the letter. This is why he asked about college, he was going to tell me that I could go if I did this. I wondered how I could have been accepted if I had not applied, but his nervous smile told me he had applied for me.

I put down the letter and grasped his hands. "You did this for me?" He looked sheepish. "Well, yes, Colonel Baird helped me fill in some of the gaps on the application, but she and I were only trying to give you an opportunity—" he rambled nervously. "Thank you," I was crying now, and he wiped away the tears that fell down my face. "Please don't do this to try to please me in any way, because you know it doesn't matter to me. I love you, diploma or no diploma. I just know how much you've wanted this and I—" My ears stopped listening as soon as he said the word love. We had never said that before. "You what?" He looked confused. "I know how much you've wanted—" "No before that." He looked even more confused. "It doesn't matter to me?" he tried again. "After that." He smiled, "I love you." "That," I said, "Do you mean that?" He looked hurt, "Of course I mean it, Cassandra—" I was kissing him before his sentence ended. We kissed fiercely for several minutes and then I looked into his big hazel eyes and said, "I love you too."

After kissing for a while, we were just lying in bed snuggling. I was curled up against his broad chest as he played with my hair. "Princeton," I said through the silence. He looked confused. "You asked me where I would go, I would go to Princeton."


	9. Bonding

Cassandra:

I looked out onto the streets of Paris and felt a twinge of sadness that Jenkins wasn't here. He would love this. Well, I'm sure he's seen it. He's been nearly everywhere that's anywhere. I watched from my seat at the table where Ezekiel, Jake and I sat in the little café as Ezekiel tried to talk to a waitress in French. She looked appalled and hurried away. Jake was hiding a grin. Ezekiel turned on Jake, "What did you have me say?!" He was trying to ask out the pretty waitress and Jake had jumped on the chance to help him do it in French. "You told her that you had to take a dump in the bathroom earlier and that she might need to get a plunger from the back for it," Jake died laughing. Ezekiel was fuming, but I'll have to admit that it was fun to watch.

We weren't here on Librarian business, so we joked with each other more freely than normal. Jake had suggested that we take some time away, just the three of us and "bond". We agreed and decided on France, both to sight see and because we needed to try to practice using our combined skills away from the others. Jenkins had come up with 29 false librarian scenarios and 1 real one that we were to solve in the time span of 21 days. If in the 3 weeks, we hadn't solved them all, we would never know what the real one was or if we had solved it or not. If we finished, we'd be told what the real scenario was and then rewarded. This part was put in place for Jones, we knew that if he wasn't going to get anything out of it he wouldn't be helpful on the trip.

Some of the scenarios were harder than others. We spent about 2 days on one particular scenario but figured out 3 others this morning alone. There was another catch- we couldn't call Eve, Flynn, or even Jenkins… for anything. I enjoyed hanging out with Jake and Ezekiel of course, they were almost like brothers, but I couldn't help but miss Jenkins. We had been gone a week now and it was already getting difficult. I know alone time is good and all and even recommended for relationships, but I missed him all the same. I wonder if he missed me this much?

Jenkins:

I rolled over in the bed to look at the empty space beside me, sighing quietly when I remembered she was in France. I protested when she told me their plan a little over a week ago, not in front of the others of course, but she knows I didn't want her to go. I understand the necessity of bonding and trying to get into a rhythm with the others, but I didn't understand why it couldn't be done here, in the Library. They were all very insistent upon going to Paris to get away, so I didn't stop them.

We weren't supposed to be communicating with them at all unless something came up that needed all of our attention, so I haven't spoken to Cassandra in a week, which was agonizing. Now, that's not to say that I haven't been keeping up with where they are and how they're doing. Nobody told me I couldn't do that. I had friends everywhere and a pretty redhead with an Australian and a cowboy were easy to spot. If I'm honest, sometimes I didn't even ask about the Aussie.

I can't believe that I had agreed to 3 full weeks. The others knew Cassandra and I were together now and I didn't want to seem weak in front of them for not wanting her gone that long, but now I didn't care. Maybe if I had said something, they wouldn't be gone so long. "Do you hear yourself Jenkins?" I thought to myself silently. I've lived for over a thousand years without her and for some reason, I've forgotten how I managed before. I get up and put on a suit, carefully matching my pocket square to my bow tie, as I have done millions of times, but I can't help but feel sad that she's not buzzing around here leaving a trail of clothes and shoes in her morning flutter.

I head for the annex and am surprised to see Colonel Baird and Mr. Carsen already there hovering over the Clippings Book. They looked at me with fear in their eyes as Colonel Baird said, "We have a problem." Immediately my mind went to the worst. I felt myself turning white and even though I knew she was talking about the three young librarians, I had to ask, "What happened? Are they okay? Is she okay?" My voice was small and afraid, but I didn't care. "Their trackers went offline." Wait… they had trackers? "Their what?" I asked. "You didn't really think I'd let them go for 3 weeks without a safety precaution, did you?" Thank God for Eve Baird. I nodded slightly in thanks and she went on, "And then this popped up in the Clippings Book from Paris right after I realized I couldn't get a hold of their trackers." I read the pages in horror. No, that couldn't be right, only one artifact that could do that would be in Paris. I thought back to the quests of past librarians and realized that it had never been recovered.

"We tried to call them, but they didn't answer. You may have better luck though, call Cassandra. She may answer you because she knows you wouldn't call if something wasn't wrong." I was already at my desk and dialing Cassandra's cell number when she finished her sentence. If it was what I thought it was, her cell would have no signal. Four rings and then voicemail, "Cassandra, my dear, I know this is breaking the rules of the trip, but we have to get in touch with you. Something is terribly wrong. Please call me back when you get this… please." I paused. "I love you," I added quickly and hung up before my voice began to reveal just how scared I was, then looked at Baird. Cassandra would have answered my call if she could, and we both knew it. Within a few minutes, we were stepping through the back-door to the streets of Paris.

Cassandra:

The boys and I were doing a little sight-seeing in the Catacombs when our cell signal died. "That's funny," Ezekiel said, "All of the brochures said that there were no problems with modern technology down here, that the tunnels had been updated to accommodate cell signal and even Wi-Fi." Jake gave me an uneasy look and I swallowed, I felt it too. Something wasn't right. "I don't have a good feeling about this, maybe we should just go back," Jake offered. Ezekiel and I nodded our heads quickly and turned around to the group we entered with. Only, our group wasn't behind us. That's funny, they had been there just moments before. "We need to get out of here fast," Ezekiel said, "Cassandra, can you find the route with the map thingy in your head?" I ignored his lack of consideration for my gift and started tracking our movement pattern to locate the exit. After a few seconds, I pointed to the corridor on the right, "That way." As we entered the corridor, there was a loud thud behind us and we turned to see that the passage we just came through closed itself off. We were trapped.


	10. Catacombs

Jenkins:

We walked toward the city center in silence until finally I had to ask. "Mr. Carsen?" He glanced at me expectantly. "Please tell me that you don't think the cause of this is what I think it is," I saw his face fall. "I'm afraid we both know what it is and what it is capable of, Jenkins." I tried to put on a brave face but was internally terrified. "What are you two talking about? You guys are scaring me, we never know what an artifact is this quickly," Colonel Baird looked uneasy, "What do you think it is?" Mr. Carsen glanced at me. "Ben Franklin's Lightning Rod," we said together quietly. Her eyes widened and then she looked confused, "But why would that be in Paris?" Flynn looked at me and nodded his head for me to take over. It was only fitting, I knew more about the man than anyone else here did.

"Franklin lived out the end of his life in Paris. The lightning rod has not been seen since the original use by anyone but the man himself. Most assume that he stashed it somewhere in the U.S., but evidently, he brought it with him. I can't say I'm too surprised by that, Ben did always take to doing his own thing." Colonel Baird gasped, "Wait, you knew Benjamin Franklin?" "Why of course I did, who do you think helped the man come up with bifocals? I desperately needed them." Mr. Carsen then looked agape at me as well, and I just shook my head, "Why are you people still surprised by me? Anyway, the powers of the rod are a little more than uncontrollable and unknown. Whoever has the rod is in grave danger, as it takes to electrocuting everything and everyone around it when its job is complete, but that's the only piece of information we have on it." Colonel Baird looked puzzled, "You mean we're walking into this with almost no idea what the rod does or exactly where it is?" I nodded, "Except for the where part, where did their trackers go offline? We can start from there." Eve pulled out her cellular phone and then handed it to me with GPS coordinates pulled up. My, those things are handy. I glanced at the coordinates and furrowed my brow wondering why they looked so familiarly placed. My eyes widened in realization, "They're in the catacombs."

Cassandra:

"Guys, the walls are moving, what do we do?" I began to calculate how much time we had until it completely closed in on us as we ran down the narrowing hallway and that number did not match the amount of time it would take us to get to the end of the hallway. Ezekiel shrugged off his backpack and pulled out a crowbar as we ran. My mouth hung open, "Why do you have that?!" He stopped and wedged it between the sliding wall and the floor and the wall stopped moving. "Do you seriously think that as many life or death situations as we've been in, I would come empty handed to the bloody catacombs? This place screams trouble." Jake gave him a slap on the back, "Good work man." "You act surprised mate, I mean I'm Ezekiel Jones." Jake and I just rolled our eyes. "So, what now? We're completely trapped with no cell signal and no way out," Jake asked me. I pulled out my phone to try the signal again. Nothing, but then I noticed I had a voicemail. That's weird, I didn't hear a call. We must have had enough signal for a split second to let it come through after the fact.

"Guys, I have a voicemail," I moved to open it when I noticed the number, "It's from Jenkins." "You sure you want us to hear this? I mean I don't want to hear something that'll hurt my young ears," Jones quipped sarcastically before I pressed play. "You pig, I haven't spoken to him since we left, per the agreement. If he called, something must be wrong." I clicked play and then turned on speaker phone. His sweet, deep voice filled the small space. "Cassandra, my dear, I know this is breaking the rules of the trip, but we have to get in touch with you. Something is terribly wrong. Please call me back when you get this… please." His voice was shaking slightly, and his voice sounded more afraid than I would like to admit. There was a short pause, as if he was deciding to keep going or not. "I love you," he finished, and the line went dead. I felt a lump in my throat forming because I didn't know if I would ever be able to get out of here and those may be the last words I ever hear him say. 'I love you too,' I thought to myself, wishing he could hear it. Jones hung his head, now ashamed that he had been so mean to me when something was actually wrong.

Jacob:

"Okay, it's okay, maybe he was talking about this, about our situation now. And maybe he's on his way," I said, seeing the tears welling up in Cassie's eyes. She relaxed a little bit, "Maybe, but even so, he couldn't get to us down here trapped like this, and how would he even know we're in the catacombs—" "I wouldn't underestimate the old man," Ezekiel cut her off, "Stone and I watched him take out ten vampires in about 30 seconds to get to you." She looked at me and I nodded, "He's kind of a badass." She blushed a little and then smiled, "What's our plan then?" she asked. The tears were gone, and she was back. "Well, I'm thinking that we keep going down this hall until we find a way out of this thing. I don't think waiting here is going to do us any good, the crowbar will give eventually," Jones said.

With that, we nodded and headed down the hallway. We made it to the end and there were two doors. Jones and I looked at Cassandra. "Statistically speaking, when given a left or right choice, most people instinctively go right so if this thing is trying to kill us, I say we go left." She seemed sure, so I opened the door on the left and stepped through followed by Jones and then Cassie. The door slammed shut behind us and locked itself. I heard Jones gulp. The room was dimly lit but it was scattered with gold. Cassie looked around and then at Jones, "It might be some kind of test, don't touch anything!" We crossed the room slowly and carefully checking for booby traps but there were none. When we got to the other side, we found a ladder and looked up. There was a tiny hole about 2500 feet above us. It looked like natural light, but I couldn't tell for sure. I looked around and then at Cassie and Jones, "Don't see any other options." I began to climb and felt the two of them hot on my trail.

Cassandra:

As we got closer and closer to the top of the ladder, I realized that it wasn't natural light we had seen. We were still underground. Well, at least we're closer to the surface than we were before. We climbed through to the other side of the hole, Jacob helping Ezekiel and I up. We were in another small room except this one had no doors. As we all began to realize it was a trap, we heard a small thud in the distance and looked down through the hole we came up through. Someone had knocked over the ladder and we officially had nowhere else to go.


	11. Lightning

Jenkins:

Colonel Baird walked to the desk in charge of the Catacombs tours and flashed her military credentials, telling them that all of the tours were to be evacuated immediately. Surprisingly enough, they didn't question her American credentials and thought it best to be safe even if it was some kind of American trick. I desperately wanted Cassandra and the other young librarians to show up after having been evacuated wondering why we had ruined their tour, but group after group came by without a trace of them. About 20 minutes passed and the manager of the tours approached and informed us that everyone had been accounted for except for 3 people who had disappeared from their group a while ago. My heart sank, she was still inside. "We have a picture of the three people who aren't accounted for from our security tapes up front." Maybe it isn't them, maybe it someone else, I thought, trying to stay calm. The man handed Colonel Baird a picture and she looked at it and nodded, "They're with us, we'll handle it. Thank you."

"Come on, we better hurry," Mr. Carsen said and headed for the entrance. We descended the stairs deeper and deeper underground until we made it to a sort of crossroads. "This place is like a maze, how are we going to find them?" Colonel Baird looked at me. I sighed, the moment had come. "Well, I was hoping not to have to resort to this, but it seems we have no choice," I responded reaching into my pocket. I stopped for a moment. "No judgements from either of you, the spell works best with items that are the most… intimate." They raised their eyebrows and I sighed, knowing I was never going to hear the end of this. "Before we left, I grabbed these from my chambers just in case I needed to resort to this particular spell and it seems that I do." I pulled the small scrap of purple lace cloth out of my pocket and they gasped. "Are those—" Colonel Baird began. "Cassandra's unmentionables, yes," I cut her off, trying to end this conversation as quickly as possible. Mr. Carsen was grinning, "From your chambers, did you say?" I felt my face turn red, shit, I did say. "We don't have time for this! We need to find them and fast, you're welcome to pester me about it when we bring them all back safely to the Library, deal?" I barked at them. They nodded but didn't do a very good job hiding their grins.

I cast the spell and then a trail of shadow footsteps the size of Cassandra's petite feet began to appear on the floor. I pocketed the undergarment and we followed the path until it led us to a wall. "Maybe it didn't work," the Colonel offered after we stared at the wall for a moment. "No, it works, they went this way though I don't quite understand why there is a wall in the way." Just as I was done with my sentence I heard a scream in the distance, I was positive it was Cassandra. What little ounce of reservation I had melted away when I heard her voice, I had to get to her. And we were running out of time. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a vial of green liquid. I placed a drop of the liquid onto the wall in the center. The rock began to start smoking as the potion burned through the center and eventually through the whole wall.

We stepped through and continued to follow the shadowy footsteps. As we ran down the very narrow hallway, we all noticed the crowbar shoved between the wall and the floor. The catacombs themselves must be causing this. The wall I burned through must've appeared and trapped the librarians after they passed through it and this wall must have been trying to close in on them. We reached the end of the hallway and saw that the footsteps went through the door on the left and we followed. The room was filled with gold, lots of gold. Colonel Baird and I knew better than to touch anything, but she reminded Mr. Carsen just to be safe. We followed the shadow prints across the room until we reached the other side and the prints just stopped. There was a ladder across the floor and we looked up. About 2000 plus feet above us was a small hole in the ceiling. "Cassandra?" I yelled up to the hole.

"Jenkins?" I heard a faint voice from above me. My heart stopped. Then 3 Librarian heads popped around the hole. "Jenkins!" they all yelled and just as I began to respond to them and tell them that we were going to get them down from there the hole sealed itself off. "No! Cassandra!" I yelled but there was no response. We were so close. "Ideas?" Colonel Baird's ever-present voice of reason pulled me from my thoughts. "Jenkins, can we use that green stuff to burn another hole where that one was?" Mr. Carsen asked. I wish. "No, it isn't controllable, it would burn through the whole floor and they're up much too high to fall safely." "Okay, new plan, we try to find another way out of here. Let's go try the other door back there," Colonel Baird offered. That was basically our only option, so we followed her quickly. As we entered the other room, it looked the exact same as the one before it, but the ladder was still up and there was still a hole in the ceiling about the same distance up. We didn't even discuss it, we immediately started to climb, me first. I emerged on the other side and helped up the Colonel and Mr. Carsen. We looked around the room for doors or the young librarians but could see none of either. The hole below us closed itself just as it had done to them, and we were just as trapped.

"Can we use the bottle on this wall?" Mr. Carsen asked. I glanced at the wall he was referring to, this would potentially be the only thing between us and the others based on the size of the rooms beneath us. "I believe so but if I am mistaken, we could all end up dead… even me." The two young people looked at each other, having an entire conversation through the one glance. "Worth the risk," Colonel Baird said. If it meant possibly getting to Cassandra, I would do anything, so that was all the confirmation I required of them. I pulled the vial out and placed a drop of the green liquid on the center of the wall and it began to smoke. So far, so good. As it began to melt away, I could see through the hole. "Cassandra!" Before it had even dissipated completely, I ran through the hole to her. She jumped into my arms and I held onto her a little too tightly, but she didn't seem to mind. "I knew you'd find me," she said hoarsely as if through tears. "Don't you ever scare me like that again," I whispered into her ear. Our moment ended quickly as I remembered that the others were watching. I held her hand tightly and stood closer than I usually did because I wasn't letting her out of my sight. We would properly celebrate later, for now we needed to focus on the matter at hand.

"Okay, so, now that we're together again, how do we get out of here?" Mr. Jones asked the question that plagued us all. No one answered. "Great," he huffed. We all began coming up with plans and trying to talk through them, but nobody really had any answers that were going to work. All of a sudden, sparks flew from the other side of the room, we had been so concerned with our plan, we had not seen the lightning rod appear out of thin air. "Shit!" shouted Jacob Stone, "What the hell is that thing?" "That's it!" Mr. Carsen yelled. The others look confused. "I imagined it being bigger," Ezekiel said and then the rod shot a bolt of electricity at his feet. "Oh, I didn't mean that!" he screamed at the rod. The rod was no longer than a foot, but it was powerful enough to kill us all, easily. I looked around but didn't see anyone. Who the hell was controlling this thing? "Cassandra," I began, and she glanced up at me. "How long has it been since the original lightning rod experiment?" She did the math in her head and her eyes widened. "250 years," she said, "possibly to the day." He had programmed the rod to be found today. How, I had no clue, but he had to have.

"I don't think anyone is controlling it, I think Ben wanted it to be found on this day, that's why no one has found it until now." Just as I finished my sentence, the rod glowed a little less bright. Hmm, maybe it needs to be found by someone who knew what Ben intended with it. "May I test a theory?" I asked the others. They all looked confused but nodded. I slipped my hand from Cassandra's and took a step toward the rod. It didn't try to electrocute me so that's a start. "Ben made you to test a theory he already knew worked, he just needed to prove it." The rod dimmed even more. "You actually used to be a church steeple, the lightning transmogrified you into a rod." The rod stopped its electricity and dropped to the floor. I walked to it and picked it up. The others just looked at me amazed. Ezekiel was the first to speak, "So Franklin put security questions on his greatest invention to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands?" I hadn't thought of it that way but, "Essentially, yes, he did." Just as I spoke, a small hole opened above our heads. It was natural light. The catacombs had done their job, they had protected the rod for 250 years.

"Let's go home," Colonel Baird said. We all began to climb through the hole onto the streets of Paris. We stopped by the hotel to get the young librarians' things and then I opened the back door in an alleyway not far from their room. We emerged in the Library and everyone took to their rooms. Well, everyone except Cassandra… and we didn't even bother trying to hide it from the others.

 _ **Sorry for the long wait on this one and the cliffhangers! I wanted to make sure my research was as accurate as possible! Hope you enjoy!**_


	12. Pillow Talk

Cassandra:

After we got out of the catacombs, Jenkins never left my side. We didn't say anything, just let each other's presence calm us as we packed up my things and went back to the library. He carried my bag in one hand and held my hand with the other. We went wordlessly to his room and he dropped the bag the minute we walked in the doorway. I kicked the door shut with my heel and locked it. In an instant, he had his arms wrapped around me tightly and his head in my hair. I hugged him back fiercely and tried to keep the tears from falling. "Cassandra—" he began, his voice cracking a little. I put a finger to his lips, "We can talk about it later, for now though…" I ran my hands down his broad chest and he sucked in a breath. "I missed you," I finished in the sultriest voice I could muster. His lips crashed against mine and he was unbuttoning my top before I had time to even finish my breath. He had me completely undressed before I could even get his jacket off. I giggled a little as he kissed me, he had missed me too.

I pushed him to the bed and began to undress him as he kissed his way down my jaw and neck to my chest. I had his shirt off when he got to my nipples. He kissed one softly and began to flick and squeeze the other with his hand. I sighed loudly, getting him undressed suddenly not as important as before. I let my hands roam down his back as he went to work nipping and sucking at my chest. I let a small moan escape and scraped my nails lightly along his back, it seemed to fuel his fire even more. He began to suck harder and bite me lightly. Damn, that was going to leave a few marks. I had only been gone a week, but it felt like forever since we'd done this. I was finally able to focus again as he worked his way back up my neck. I unbuttoned his pants and he held up a finger. I watched as he pulled a vial of green stuff out of his pocket and put it on the night stand carefully. I was moving back toward him when he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a pair of purple lacy underwear, mine. I stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell? "Jenkins, why do you—" I began but he just shook his head. "Later," he said and took his pants off bringing his boxers down with them. He kicked off his shoes and socks in the process and finally made his way back to kissing my mouth. He flipped me over and pinned me against the bed. I could feel his now hardening member against my thigh as he straddled me. It made me completely forget that he had just pulled my underwear out of his pocket. It was kind of sexy though that he had them with him, whatever the reason was.

I pushed back a little and took a minute to admire him, he was in much better shape than a man of around 60 should be, immortality benefits I suppose. He was muscular and tall. He had tattoos on his arms and chest, which I thought was quite sexy, and they were even sexier because I had not pegged him for the tattoo type, so they surprised me the first time I saw them. He was not lacking in the… size department either if you catch my drift. I licked my lips involuntarily. He noticed my staring and stepped back to look at me as well. His eyes wandered, lingering on my crotch and breasts for longer than anything else. His eyes drifted back to my face and he reached his hands out to take my face in them. He kissed me slowly, hungrily and began to press our bodies together again.

I couldn't take it anymore. "Mmmmm," I mumbled into his lips. He kissed me harder and began to position his now fully hardened manhood at my now very wet entrance. He stopped kissing me for a split second, so he could look me in the eyes, then he asked a silent question and I answered with a small nod. He rubbed his shaft against my clit and I moaned loudly, not even caring to quiet myself like we usually did out of fear the others might hear us. He pushed his large member inside me and he began to thrust, slowly at first then wild and erratically as his climax built. He didn't try to quiet himself either and I'm almost positive the others could hear everything. I was getting particularly close when he came inside of me, and it took me over the edge. He just held me as we both came down from our euphoria, running his hands through my hair.

After a period of comfortable silence, he moved me in his arms to look at him, "You're exquisite, Cassandra Cillian, do you know that?" There was such genuine care in his eyes and voice that I almost melted. "I don't know about that," I fumbled and looked down, embarrassed. He brought my face to look at him again, "You are. You're the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman I have ever known, I swear it," he said and laid a small chaste kiss on my lips, "Knight's honor," he said softly. I looked into his eyes and saw what I thought until now only existed in movies: undying love. We had said we loved each other before and of course, we meant it, but I hadn't seen it so clearly until now. I was wondering why he was telling me all of this right now and then I remembered his face when he had run to me in the catacombs. There was more fear in his eyes than I had ever seen, and we had been in plenty of life-threatening situations before.

"I love you, Galahad," I said using his real name for the first time. He looked surprised to hear me call him by his true name, but then delighted, "I miss that name," he said almost reverently, "and it sounds good coming off your lips." I smiled up at him, happy that I hadn't spoken out of turn. "I love you, Cassandra, more than I thought could ever be possible to love another." His eyes faltered for a minute and I could tell something was bothering him. "What's wrong?" I asked as I laid a hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes and moved his head to kiss my palm. "Nothing, my dear," he said, but I could still hear the tinge of sadness in his voice. I moved my hand away from him and he looked up. "No," I said simply, and he gave me a quizzical look. "No what?" he asked. "No, you are so not going to lie to me right now, I know that look, something's wrong, spill it."

Jenkins:

"No," she said as she pulled away from me. Now I was confused, "No what?" "No, you are so not going to lie to me right now, I know that look, something's wrong, spill it," she responded defiantly, she wasn't letting this go. I sighed and took her in my arms as I spoke, "I'm sorry Cassandra, it's just that… as I was confessing those things to you a moment ago I thought about how Librarians don't tend to live for very long and I don't have that same luxury. What is a 'relatively short life' for you is the blink of an eye for me." I saw her eyes fall, guilty she had made me talk about this. I chose my next words very carefully so as not to startle or upset her. "I don't want to go on without you, my love, I'm afraid it would not be a life worth living." She looked back up at me, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, my dear, don't cry, I didn't mean to upset you," I began wiping away her tears with my thumbs. She took my hands in hers and kissed my fingertips and then my knuckles, and then my palms, calloused and rough from years of combat. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice, almost to herself.

"Oh Cassandra, no, you have nothing to be sorry for. You have brought more light to my life in these few months than anyone ever has, in all my years." I smiled at her, "A brilliant woman reminded me once that I had all this life and never did anything with it." She blushed as I used her words. "Well, now I'm doing something with it, and as absolutely wonderful as it feels now, I have to prepare myself to lose it just as quickly as it came." She looked deep into my eyes, tears still streaming down her face. "But you see, my dear, my only regret about us…" I saw her eyes flash in fear and quickly finished, "is that I was so afraid when you asked me the first time and I missed those months with you." She smiled, "You did take some coaxing, didn't you?" I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, "And thank God for your patience my dear." She snuggled up to my chest, the severity of the moment before dulled slightly.

"This may not mean as much since I don't have quite as many years to pull from as you do," she began as she looked up at me. I feigned offence and she giggled, "but you have singlehandedly shown me what love is supposed to be- good and pure and all-consuming. Nobody has ever cared about me the way that you have, not even my own family. I never dreamed I would find a love like this and I—" her voice cracked with emotion and I felt the tears streaming down my face at her genuine words. I couldn't resist pulling her to me and kissing her, properly, a light lingering kiss that sent shivers up my spine. As we broke apart, she said, "I think we've had enough sappy for tonight, don't you agree?" I nodded my head and smiled at her. "Now that we're changing the topic, I have to know something…" she looked up at me with wide blue eyes. "Anything my dear," I nuzzled my head against her neck. "Why did you pull a pair of my panties out of your pocket?" Shit, I thought maybe she forgot, this is going to take some explaining...

 _ **This is going to be it for this story! The next couple of things I'm working on though follow after this one though, so it's not really over! I'm just going to start separating the story into chunks! Thanks for reading!**_


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